Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory
by DarklingShift
Summary: It's been 50 years after the end of the Prequel, PATH OF NO RETURN. Bella resides in Purgatory while Edward still is tied to earth. Death is interesting in so many ways. DISCLAIMER Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer.
1. Preface

Disclaimer: The characters from Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer. 

PREFACE

EPOV

I watch, waiting in darkness, waiting for the sound of footsteps outside of the padded door to come and comfort me the slightest.

It does not come, and still I wait. The endless clamor that had once filled my mind with the thoughts of a thousand people could not penetrate the cavernous walls of my prison, leaving me to the thoughts of my own that I desperately tried to avoid, but would sneak in during my frequent moments of weakness and delight in watching me writhe in agony at the memories that flooded back each and every time – memories of a flash of mahogany hair and chocolate-brown eyes, of blood crusting under my fingernails and seeping into every pore of my skin, of lips that parted for a final cry of absolute terror before they were silenced by the veil of death that settled upon them.

It was these memories that tortured me, that led me to strain against my chains while I screamed in agony. Their brief flashes came rushing toward me over and over, the same memories entangled in others from before – of laughter and forests that only sunk the pain in deeper.

The laughter cut – the forests weaved a cage of madness. It all came as one form – memories.

And still I wait for the footsteps that will never come, the voice that I will never again hear, the hair that I will never again brush.

I damn them all – all! - for keeping me here, locked away into the embrace of metal fetters that somehow bind me to the wall, regardless of my futile attempts at escape.

I wait and embrace the darkness, until the long-expected footsteps come, quietly and quickly, to stop right outside of the locked door.


	2. 1 Imprisonment

YAY!! Finally the first chapter! sorry it took so long ... I've been lazy and on vacation – where I wasn't allowed to bring my computer.

Thanks to my beta, R.L.N. Tonks!

Chap. 1

BPOV

Padded walls and relief-bringing pills were all that I had known for the past fifty years. Even in death I was secluded, separated from all in this purgatory that would never end. Not that there resided sins that required to be burned away within me – no, my sins, I was told, were few and far between. Nor was there any mistake within the heavens in putting me here, for this was fully thought through by both me and others far greater than I.

No, this was a choice. Death, I admit, was a relief. To slip away from the troublesome body that was my home for so many years. But Heaven itself held no Eden for me, my soul itself being wrapped around another being that still resided on earth. And so I settled in Purgatory, Hell refusing me and Heaven having no purchase for me. I wait, in this endless darkness that surrounds me, leaning against padded walls, for both my lover and my executioner – Edward.

EPOV

I didn't lift my head to see who entered the room. The thoughts that echoed in his head were more familiar than ever, sharing with me his pity and remorse, as if I _needed_ anymore. I heard him sigh, and saw through his eyes myself, hanging from a wall by shackles of unknown metal. I tore my mind away from his and withdrew into my own head, blocking any thoughts that came my way. His pity angered me, for it was _he_ who kept me here, _he_ who refused to let me join once again with my love in death.

Carlisle knelt to open the bag that he brought with him, glancing over at my crumpled form but never once meeting my eyes. I used the little strength that I had to snarl at him as he gazed briefly over my matted hair and my ripped clothes. He stood from his crouch with a plastic bag in hand, walking cautiously over to me and holding it up to my mouth. My teeth punctured the bag with ease, slitting holes in the flimsy plastic. I drank deeply from the packaged blood, the cold, unsatisfying blood, my thirst barely sated by it. One hand on my arm, he watched me as I drank, his eyes solemn and pitying.

I glared at him through my own wild eyes, relinquishing my grasp on the bag as I launched myself away from the wall with my newfound strength in a futile attempt at escape. The chains, foraged in some unknown kiln, were strong enough to yank me back by my arms and hold me in place. My arms were raw and red from my failing attempts, the marble skin marred by the chains which withheld unfathomable strength. I glared onward, past my jailer, toward the open door that let in the only light I saw. Carlisle reached forward, hesitant, like a smart child petting an unknown dog. I let loose a low growl through my clenched teeth as he laid the tips of his fingers on the cold metal around my wrists. His gaze once again caught mine as he stared, pityingly once more, at me.

"I do not want to do this Edward. I wish there was another way. But there isn't."

I snarled out my next few words. "You could set me free. Spring me from this prison and let me go."

Carlisle sighed, running his fingers through his blond hair as he looked toward the ground. "I can't do that. I will not – _can _not, let you destroy yourself."

I ignored him once more and turned away, waiting for him to make his next move.

He surprised me. He took hold of my chains and loosened them, slightly. Enough so that they held, but they did not grasp as tightly. I looked up in sheer surprise, as he moved the chains link by link. And then he left – just left the room, picking up his empty bag with him, and shutting and locking the door as he left.

He had _loosened _the chains. _Loosened. _For the first time, I felt the slightest sincere hope that I could escape. I pulled at my shackles, the things that had held me imprisoned for these long years. The vain hope that I grasped onto was shattered, splintering into minute fragments as the chains slid, but did not fall. I hung my head once more and thought of my warden, the gentle man that stood stubbornly in my way, blocking the path toward joining the everlasting bliss of death, whether Heaven or Hell. Or rather, non-existence, the nothingness of death without a soul. I cursed him, _him_, for giving me hope and snatching it away, dashing away the one thought of salvation after having me relish it for the few moments that I had.

Anger filled me again, and I tore at the chains, roaring in my despair. To my great surprise, the chain moved once more, sliding minutely across my marred skin. I pulled harder, wrenching at the binding metal. It slid again, and I saw that he _had_ given me the chance at escape, whether meaning to or not. Once they had passed the tightest point they fell easily, enjoying the first moments of freedom, of the air on my wrists where they had been bound. The wounded marble flesh healed easily in the open air, and I watched as the skin bound itself back together. The sound of my own footsteps sounded foreign to me, as I was barefoot and the ground met my feet with a slapping sound. The door opened silently and I stepped out into the cold night, running toward anywhere. Running toward nowhere.

The dark trees welcomed me in between their twining branches, their roots seeming to melt away into the dirt as I passed. Animals that hid in the branches of the nearby pines stilled at my passing, silencing their chatters and calls. Their beady black eyes watched me as I ran, following my footsteps that rustled the leaves on the ground. I had to get as far away from Carlisle with the time that I had – he would know that I was gone the moment the sun rose – the time that he visited me every morning. I had left the door open, the first sign that he would see that I was gone. The wind whipped my hair back from my face as I ran harder and faster, relishing in the freedom that was mine once more. I knew where I was going. I had known where I would go for the past fifty years – waiting, planning for this day. Waiting so that I could finally have the chance to destroy the monster that had killed her – the monster that was me. I smiled grimly into the darkness, and ran even faster. Death awaited. I shouldn't keep it waiting.

Alice

The familiar blank-white feeling of a vision washed over me – only this time, an unfamiliar something tinged the edges of this feeling. Suddenly, screams erupted in my head, each with the piercing pitch of a wounded animal, shooting straight into me. Glimpses of light flickered across my vision, each showing an image in black and white, showing each for only an instant. Broken images burst in front of my eyes like shattering glass, white and blinding. I felt my physical me sway and arms catching me, but I could not move. The flashes went blank and red eyes stared out from the darkness, and slowly, one by one, faded into the black. Suddenly the dark veil was lifted and I looked up to the topaz light of my lover's eyes, and I whispered one thing that made Jasper's eyes widen.

"Edward."

Carlisle

Waking to the break of dawn wasn't an option for me, but nevertheless I was walking through the woods as the first rays of sunlight hit the ground. The leaves rustled underfoot as I ran through the trees, the light reaching out further and further through the trees. I glimpsed the concrete cell through the trees, its gray walls unnoticeable to human eyes. I slowed to a walk as I neared the compound, thinking of the horrific deed that I had done to my own. I kept him chained – chained and padlocked – inside of a cell in the middle of the forest.

I hung my head. Compassion – the one thing that my children had said to be my greatest trait – was one thing that could not save my son. I could _not _let him go, not after we had lost Bella, not after all we had gone through. Our family was already torn apart – each pair had gone their separate ways, as we all were reminded by each other of the pain that our family suffers. Jasper had left for the last time, unable to stand the sorrow that enveloped our family. After that Alice saw only darkness in Edward's future, the darkness of the cell walls, and she left to escape the dark images that sprang into her mind time after time. Emmett, his little sister gone, left the house because of the memories that haunted them. Rosalie left with him, faithful to him, yet still regretting her actions toward her human sister. Esme stayed with me, loosing her children, staying only because of me. And now Edward stood, in the very cell that stood before me, chained to a wall.

The back of the concrete cell faced me, its windowless state reminding me of a solid concrete block, dark and suffocating. As I rounded the corner, a glimpse of moving black caught my eye. The open door to the cell swung silently on its well-oiled hinges, a door into the blackness that hung within. I stepped closer and saw, hanging in the shroud of darkness, the chains that swung empty against the wall, their links relaxed after their years of strained use. I swung around from the darkness and ran. He was going where he went before – only with nothing to stop him.

My son was going to the Volturi.


	3. 2 Volterra

Chap. 2

Edward

The thin, sharp air of Volterra greeted my arrival. The fog curled, snake-like, around stone walls and grassy hills, somehow menacing as it floated silently through the city corridors. My footsteps echoed off of the towering stone walls, ringing again and again like the footsteps of a following mob. The streets were empty at this time of night, the streetlights giving off an eerie glow, lighting the fog and producing small circles of light on the cobblestones.

My feet brought me down the path that had run over and over in my head – left, right, right, left ... straight to the entrance to my death. The gaping hole between the cobblestones swallowed me up as I dropped silently into the cold underground hall. Even through the darkness I could see the mold that crawled up the damp walls, and the stale, cold water that dripped from the ceiling to the floor. Each droplet that hit the floor rung, echoing across the dark halls.

After seemingly endless twists and turns, the lone tunnel led smoothly to a plain door, its edges glowing softly in the darkness. With a gentle push, it opened to dim light, and I stepped out into the open.

Carlisle

Edward was going to the Volturi. That much was certain – his rantings were only of life and death, of joining Isabella without life, whether the afterlife or otherwise. His track was stale, faded by midnight rain and blowing winds. His trail led through the forest, branches broken and leaves crumpled in his path. The tires of my Mercedes screeched as I tore out of the driveway, and I headed away to the nearest airport.

Bella

The door to my cell swung open silently as my attendant brought me the medicine of the day. His winged shoulders were stiff as he knelt down to hand me the small cup of rattling pills. The bright light from the doorway pained my eyes, and I bowed my head deeper as he grew nearer. As he set the cup of pills down on the floor besides me I grabbed his hand and pulled him closer, close enough that I could look him straight in the eye.

"Show me him. Please." I whispered, and I saw his face grow troubled. He answered with a sigh.

"I can't." He looked away, as if in shame, still holding my hand in his. When he lifted his head I was still staring at him, pleading with my eyes. I knew that he would one day – responsible as he was for my happiness. But his resolve did not waver and he shook his blond head once, puling backwards toward the door.

I released him, and watched his retreating figure. He would show me - I would make him.

Edward

Bright pairs of crimson eyes stared out at me from the corners of the shadowy room, their feeding session just ending. I bowed my head to the three pairs that stood taller and more regally than the others. Aro stepped forward to speak.

"Ah, young one, how is Carlisle?" I bowed once more.

"He is fine. I have come with a purpose not unlike my last visit." Aro's head shook wryly, gazing at me with amused eyes. He beckoned me toward him, holding out his palms for mine, ready to sift through my thoughts and memories. I knelt at his feet, pressed my palm to his, and closed my eyes, ready onslaught of my own memories, seen through Aro's head.

He dove into my mind, at ease with his invasion of my privacy. He saw my memories, and I read my own through his mind, which he read again through my head once more. The first things that Aro saw were my latest moments – the clicking footsteps, the curling fog. He was uninterested, and passed through them quickly.

He dug deeper withing my mind to find the past fifty years, the memories of rattling chains and cold, damp walls. Memories of cold, stale blood drunk from plastic bags taken from the stores of a hospital. He looked with interest these memories, drifting slowly through the most painful parts of the last fifty years. Upon Carlisle's face he lingered, as my own image was reflected in his eyes, my bloodied and ragged image.

Finally, he reached the night at the asylum, where the straggling brown hair and the fragrant blood that spilled onto the padded floor. A growl rumbled in my throat as his thoughts portrayed amusement and then pity, thinking that my I had broken my own precious "toy". He withdrew from my memories and looked pityingly down at my kneeling form.

"I see that your reason is founded firmly this time," he murmured, "but we must discuss this before a decision is made." He waved forward two vampires, and they herded me through a smaller door as the Volturi gathered to deliberate.

The waiting room was dull and white, lit eerily by a florescent bulb that swung precariously over the center of the room. I stood, facing the door, listening to the unintelligible whispers from the other side of the door. Minute after minute ticked by and I still stood there, watching the off-white door stand mockingly in front of me.

The whisperings grew louder and faster, my death being debated, being swung back and forth between certainty and uncertainty. I restrained from reaching out and snatching at the thoughts of the Volturi – no, I would wait for my verdict. The whispers stretched painfully on, and I waited as they grew faster still, until one voice raised above the others. Aro. Only his voice would be heard above all, and his few words brought on another voice, one that raised questioningly at the end. Whispers immediately followed, as another round of the debate continued.

Suddenly, the whisperings fell silent, and I knew that the decision had been made. The door swung open and I was waved back into the room. Aro stood at the center of the throng of guards, who parted for him. He walked forward and eyed me with a pitying look. I held my non-needed breath for his next words.

"The decision has been made." His smile made it clear that no words needed to be said. With the flick of his wrist, the Volturi guard pressed closer around me. Aro looked to his right, and Jane sauntered forward with a grin that spoke one word. Pleasure. Sadistic Pleasure.


	4. 3 Through the Gates

Chap. 3

Alice

The cavernous chambers of the Volterra castle flew by. I had met Carlisle at the airport – we took the soonest flight to Europe. We would be too late – it was certain. I had peeked into the future over and over, waiting for the one mind that would flicker and change the decision of death. But no mind flickered – each was set for the death of my brother, to rip him to shreds.

I knew Aro saw this as a game. His amusement came first, his delight over pain and destruction. Our family was the greatest threat to their clan, and it was falling apart by the seams. Edward was just one more strand of the fabric being pulled, one more link in the chain being unhinged. And now, as I raced toward the final chamber, I was fighting for the chain to stay linked.

The final doorway appeared before Carlisle and I. We burst through, startling the vampires residing inside. We both turned to face the circle of vampires, the dark violet smoke billowing from the center of the five. The smell was ghastly – but unmistakable. Edward's scent, with the smell of venom and burning flesh. Carlisle knelt before the ashes of his first son, his silent form curving painfully of the still-smoldering flecks of black. Aro was silent, watching as I fell to my knees, as my father ran his fingers through what was left of my brother. We both turned silently to the vampire who had issued the order, the order which had killed Edward. Aro shrugged, amused eyes gazing toward us.

"It was his request."

My anger billowed, enveloping me. His smug appearance angered me, his confident minions making the burning anger grow. I stepped forward, but a strong hand came to rest on my shoulder. Carlisle shook his head once, pulling me back. A growl bubbled up as I turned back toward the murderous leader of the Volturi, but backed away. His grim but amused smile slowly faded, and he turned, his cape fluttering, to proceed to his feeding chamber.

Edward

It was a curious feeling, dying. The initial destruction of the body was as expected – each piece ripping of in agony. It was like being wrenched in different directions, though not nearly as painful as the change toward vampirism in the beginning. To die, though, was to be sucked into a whirlpool, or rather, a black hole. I was being ripped apart, and yet at the same time being squeezed out of my own body, crushed until only my consciousness remained. Farther still into the darkness I was pulled, plunged down through a timeless vortex toward a single flame. No tunnel of light, no out-of-body experience, no booming voice telling me that my sins were too great. Just the swirling feeling of death. The gates of hell were open, the souls of others being pushed in. I noticed that there certainly _was_ the smell of brimstone, the searing heat of flames. The souls around me pushed father in, their chilled breath rivaling the heat in its potency. The flickering light of the flames grew ever deeper and more ominous, lashing out to lick up the spires around us, coming close to singe our clothes on our backs and the hair on our heads.

Perhaps I should have been grateful – an existence in Hell must have been better than no afterlife at all, but still, entering Hell was not a treat for any of us. The line of souls, once we passed the gateway, stretched for miles, farther and farther. Looking up I saw only the spires and rock of the cave ceiling above, glowing red with the fire dancing beneath it, eyeless bats flitting between columns of lava rock, their winged forms throwing ever more shadows against the far walls. The road the the left and right of the lines fell away into a boiling mass of magma, seething and hissing with flames flickering across the top of the molten rock. It bubbled, the effect almost hypnotizing as one stared at the horrifying sight. Every other minute one person or another was pushed from the crowd, stumbling towards the ledge until there was no more ledge to stand on. Then they fell, screaming (as was the general way to go) into the fiery pit of liquid rock.

The line ahead of me was growing shorter and shorter, but still it took ages to move a single step. With no distraction, my mind quickly found its way to a person whose name echoed within my head constantly, day and night. _Bella_. The name itself seemed to taunt me, speaking of beauty that I would never see again, eyes that would never gaze into mine, and hand that I would never again hold. Her grave lips came to mind as I wandered slowly over her face, my mind raking over the vision of her that remained inside of my head. I shook my head once more to clear it – to think of her now would be useless, I could never see her again.

At last my turn was reached. Light and darkness seemed to fuse together as I stepped through a narrow tunnel at the end of the hall. Emerging into the outer chamber, I stepped quickly onto a single piece of rock at the end of the ledge. It seemed to _float_, its density lighter than air and yet able to carry the weight of a vampire. Others were being carried as such, each rock carrying a passenger and one only. We reached are destination – another set of gates, only this time guarded. Three dogs stood at the doors, snapping at those who dare come to near or strayed to far. I looked more closely at it – it was not three dogs, but only one, with two extra heads besides it. Stray serpents wrapped around its neck and slowly climbed to the top of one of the heads, acting like a mane of fangs and venom. As I looked on, it strained at its collar, and I saw it dig into the neck of the beast. Chained and shackled it was – as I was only a few days ago. Wait – was it days? Was it minutes? Time elapsed I took no notice of – neither in death nor existence, I suppose. As I passed the chained beast, it growled ever fiercely, but cowered as I met its gaze. Alive or not, the vampire in me clung to my soul through death. I bared my teeth at the dog and it whimpered, crawling backward on its haunches.

A river of blackened depths spread before us once through to gates guarded by Cerberus' jaws. A single ferryman rowed endlessly back and forth across it, parting its waters soundlessly as he carried boatload after boatload to the other side. His gaze weaved through the crowd and landed on me.

"Oy there! You! Vampires first – that is the rule." His brow furrowed as I stepped aboard his rickety ship, glancing uneasily between me and the other side. "We've been getting another wave of your folk here – just a few decades ago we had a male and a female – James and Victoria. I don't suppose that you had anything to do with that now, would you?"

I looked up in surprise at the familiar names – the tormentors of my poor Bella in her first years with me. I had not heard their names in many years, and nor did I want to think of them. Instead of giving him an answer, I asked a question of my own.

"Why vampires first?"

He looked down into the waters, and I followed his gaze, toward an outstretched hand floating toward us.

"Your punishments are swift – no lingering is allowed."

I studied the side of the boat as I pondered this. We, as a _species_ (hah, as if we are even that) were condemned to a life in hell already, and yet we are still to be burned sooner than the others in the pit of fire.

Looking into the waters I saw faces – the faces of the dead. Bloated corpses with bleached skin bobbed to the top of the water, dead yet not dead, as their fingers scrabbled at the crumbling paint of the boat. Their desperate attempts were useless – not one had found purchase on the vessel, not one had climbed out of the murky waters to cross onto land. They looked toward me, redoubling their efforts to clamber on deck. I turned away – their lifeless eyes seemed to reflect my own image back.

"It is just as well you turn away – those who see the ones crossing cling to the slightest hope that you will reach in to pull them out, and you would be drowned in the effort." He shot a wary glance back at the still-churning waters, and we rowed onward. Their bleached hands still slapped at the sides of the boat, nails scraping and screeching, ringing in my ears.

I saw the empty path before me and flitted to the front of the boat. The fire and brimstone, as were told, awaited me. I, the monster, was to finally be faced with the wrath of hell, my soul stained red with the blood of the lives claimed in my thirst. My destiny awaited ahead. The path wound down an endless road, no turns or twists or changes of any kind. I knew that I would not grow weary, yet the task ahead of me seemed strangely daunting. Not dark nor light, the faded scenery around me did not end – there was no horizon, no place where earth met sky, no light shining from a pulsing sun. Only a dim glow seeming to come from nowhere, and a fog that rolled endlessly both away and toward me.

The path led me onward, and I passed only one person along the way. A woman, of fine garb and gaunt face stood by the side of the road, singing softly to herself in a voice that murmured yet was clear. She looked haunted, and even as she was crowned in gold the gold was intertwined with thorns. She reached out one fair hand and called for me to stop.

"You are different from the others." She cocked her head and stared at my eyes, blinking slowly as she examined me. The orbs of gray were not unkind but were more studying – no feeling moved vividly within them but interest still swam slowly through and through. "You are damned for eternal hell, but there is a part of you that is not. Curious ... curious."

I stared back then, listening to her words that confused me ever more.

"Ah, I forget myself – we must introduce. I am Persephone – trapped here during winter because of three simple pomegranate seeds." She shook her head in shame. "I was fool – now I am trapped here for six out of twelve months. And you – you are a blood drinker, but you drink not the blood of humans. Ah, yes, I know of your habits – it is spelled out in your eyes. You love, but hate, and loath mostly your own kind."

I stared warily at her – she who knew all through one glance at me. She laughed.

"Frightened you have a right to be – though you need not. Pass, blood drinker. May your verdict be less harsh than others of your kind."

And so I walked on ....

The pathway reached its end - simply faded into a cracked desert of lava and flames. It looked deserted – but in the distance a figure approached, a figure, crawling forward, with waving red hair. I glanced back toward where the path was. The dusty trail that had led me here no longer existed, only an endless desert with no horizon. The figure glanced up and saw me, and it grinned menacingly. Climbing to its feet I recognized it once more – the same figure that I had decapitated, the same _person_ who had tried again and again to destroy my only reason for being. Wryly I thought of how I myself had destroyed my reason for being, and then myself took my life. How ironic, was it not?

Victoria stared at me, eye to eye, both our damned souls standing once again as equals. She threw her head back and laughed, and I stood there, standing unaffected in front of her.

"I did not expect to see you so soon, Edward. How is that pretty little treat doing – Isabella was her name, was it not? Fifty years ... she would be in ripe old age."

I stood glaring at her, anger welling up at another reminder of the destruction I had done. Victoria continued with the speech.

"Ah yes, I suppose with a _family_ and even _grandchildren_. Hah!" I snarled as I realized that she was taunting me – she knew already of Bella's death, of my torture, of the darkness welling around my thoughts. I leaped at her, arms stretched out wide to tear her head off again, to rip out the red waves of fiery hair. But my hands simply dove into nothingness, as if she had dissolved into the air surrounding us.

She grinned, her burgundy eyes lighting up with delight. "Welcome to your hell, Edward."

I turned and ran, the sand in the wind whipping at me like claws. Still I felt her cling to me, like a parasite of smoke. She clutched me closer and whispered into my ear, her chilling breath wafting across my cheek.

"Run Edward. You'll never go anywhere anyway."


	5. 4 Enter The Heroine

AUTHORS NOTE:

READ CHAPTERS 3 AND 4 AGAIN – (OR 2 AND 3 DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU SEE)

**VOLTERRA AND THROUGH THE GATES HAVE BEEN CHANGED. **I HAVE TWEAKED THE STORY A BIT SO IT MAKES SENSE. **GO BACK AND READ THEM. **

* * *

CHAPTER 4

Bella

The angel came back again. The same pills, the same eyes, the same stiff wings fluttering behind him. He knelt before me once again and handed me my medicine – my relief from the pain of memory. I remembered the request that I had asked him before, the one lingering wish that stayed with me till death.

"I have asked. You may see him." He spoke these words softly, but they stood out to me and rejoiced within me to an immense scale. I smiled, and I realized that it had been many years since I had done that, and many years since I have ever received such joy and pleasure, yet at the same time I knew that I had little idea of how long this time was, nor how long ago I had been killed. I closed my eyes and light began to flicker, dancing across my eyelids with bursts of light.

The image whirled around inside my head, only standing still all the same. It flickered, like an old soundless movie, only dim colors fading in and out. Immersed in the image, I flew over the wispy fog toward one open hole between the cobblestones, diving into it and floating silently through the dripping halls. When I saw _his_ face I shivered, reaching out to touch his marble skin only to find that he was as tangible as mist, my hand moving swiftly through that awful moment of nothingness, realizing that where the impact of my hand should be, only that there was a moment of expectancy that never came, only that falling moment like when stepping at the end of the stairs in the dark and thinking there lay another step. His face was emotionless, drained of hope, staring blankly ahead.

He stood before cloaked figures, the draped darkness blending together to form one large shadow. I saw Aro's pale hand raise and twist sharply, and Jane billowed forward from the midst of the crowd. Her petite figure was the symbol of horror for me, and she grin showed menacingly through the darkness of her hood. Four others stepped forward; Caius, Alec, Marcus, and Demetri. Jane's grin was echoed from face to face, and the others stepped back to allow these five to circle the lone uncloaked vampire. Aro stepped up to the side of Jane and leaned down to press his lips barely centimeters away from the edge of her ear. Sound was the one thing missing from my vision, but somehow the words spoken were understood. His lips moved silently, and the black-and-white image slowed as the few words were released into the ear of Jane.

"Have mercy. Make it quick."

I watched on in horror as Edward fell to his knees, his eyes glazing over with the loss of sight as Alec grinned along with Jane. Their grins grew broader as they advanced on Edward's helpless form, then, with some unseen signal, leapt in upon him, their cloaks spreading outward, shielding their work. Flames leapt up, and dark fire whirled into a vortex, deep into the pits of hell.

A scream issued through my lips, and the vision dissipated from my clouded eyes. The angel's winged figure blocked my path to the door, and I reached out toward him. The cracked door was my escape – my passageway to _him_. I pushed the angel away and dashed toward the open doorway, whirling into the darkness beyond. There was no floor – just an empty nothingness that reached on – a glimmer of the physical world shone to the right, a fiery hole gaped in the left. I knew where Edward was headed – the hole was my destination. My withered wings fluttering **(AN: she has wings because she was supposed to go to heaven, but they are whithered because she was in purgatory)**, I dropped silently toward the fire.

The passageway from Purgatory to Hell was different from any other I had experienced. It was silent, void of even the sound of wind in your ears. I could only pinpoint the entrance to Hell, which was, of course, my destination. I had passed the place we called Earth already, a small glimpse of buildings and trees and people. Looking up I saw the faint light of the Gates to Heaven, shining in their soft glow. Further still I dropped, and the still the fiery pit grew, its flames reaching ever higher. My withered wings fluttered uselessly above me, trailing like darkened clouds behind my falling form. The flames from the pit licked up toward me, flickering in the darkness surrounding me. I dropped to the blackened earth, the souls of the damned gathering around the gateways to hell. Their feet scraped slowly across the charred ground, but no dust appeared behind them, no stones were stirred as moved slowly toward the towering gates. I passed quickly between them, and the nearly never-ending line stretching nearly out of sight.

The crowd bustled around me – I kept turning around and around, tripping over others' feet, but still somehow moving the right direction. People reacted two ways to my wings – cringing away in revulsion or staring astonished at the dingy feathers. I suppose I could be considered a fallen angel – heaven was to be my home, but here I was, crossing the bridges of hell to find him.

_Him_. Oh god, his face floated before me once more and I sank further into my consciousness. Those eyes of gold, auburn hair, all mocked me. Life was cruel, allowing my soul mate to tear me to pieces in the end. And then, to have his benefactor chain him, to imprison him.

I remember the words he spoke so many years ago – his pained voice telling me he _had_ no soul, that it did not exist, that there was no life after death for him. Oh, how wrong he was. Hell had a place for him, but no, I would not allow it. Die, he would, but to hell he would not go, not without me at least. I would suffer with him as long as it was he that I suffered with.

My thoughts were interrupted by the roar of flames close by. With my thoughts wandering I have unwittingly slipped through the crowd to the flickering embers at the sides. Howling erupted from what came beyond me – I glanced up to see a dog of enormous size, shackled to a post driven into the ground near a second gate. Drawing nearer I saw that I wasn't simply size – three heads whipped back and forth in its agony. I stepped closer and it whirled around, snarling in its fury. Each of the heads in turn snapped at me, forcing me back toward the crowd of incoming spirits.

"They won't let you through." A voice whispered close to my ear. I turned around to see a man – an ordinary man - murmuring to me with a sly grin. Deftly slipping an arm through mine, he slid closer and steered me to the right – toward the flames.

"You're not a soul destined for Hell, and they won't let you through." His grin grew broader as I turned once again to the dogs.

I would get through. I shook his hand loose from mine and walked once again toward the rabid animals. With lightning-fast moves I was pummeled from all sides, then whipped back away from the rattling chains. The man's laughter rang through the air, an amused screech of delight.

"As much as this entertains me, I know what will entertain me greater still. What is your purpose for coming here, little winged one?"

I stared back at him with hard eyes. His plotting was visible on his face, an eager look that warned me of falsehoods to be told and dangers to come. The moment he touched me he had sent a chill through me, his hands feeling like claws of ice.

"I must go to Him. Edward, he is my heaven."

The man threw back his head and laughed, raucous and loud, echoing. His eyes shone with amusement and he drew me closer to him. His eyes turned red and the face contorted, until the firelight showed him in his true form – a monster with raving eyes and lashing tails, his claw still digging into the flesh of my arm.

"You can't go through the gate, but there is more than one way to get into Hell."

Turning me around, he pushed me through the flames, and I screamed, the heat searing my flesh to the bones. Beneath the fire there was nothing, and I fell through, blinding flames still dotting my vision. With nothing left to do, I closed my eyes and waited ...


	6. 5 An Offer Laced with Poison

**AN: Hey guys. Yes, it's been an EXTREMELY long time since I've updated this story. To be honest, I haven't had much time to write or do much of anything – life caught up with me. **

**But here's an update now, seeing as it's spring break, and I managed to get this done and out. **

**Enjoy, and please don't kill the author if I happen to disappear again. Just comment, and that'll keep me motivated to keep writing. **

CHAPTER 5

Edward

Everywhere I looked it was either Victoria or _her_, swimming across my vision, dancing in an endless game of torment. With each flick of Victoria's fingers another image of Bella, came up – the girl in a dress of white, soaked in her own blood. James with his teeth sunken into her wrist, drinking of her lifeblood and her soul. Her bloodshot eyes staring out at me while I tore at her, her contorted face.

I clawed at her, at Victoria, at myself, tearing at my own eyes to rid myself of the images that pummeled me. Bella huddled in the corner of a black padded cell, bloodstained hair matted against her yellowed eyes. Bella, her face sunken with starvation and sorrow from my departure. Still the images swam under my eyelids, no matter how many times I shut them and blocked out the light. I tore my own hair out by the roots, screaming in the madness of torture. Still Victoria grinned, her teeth shining with venom. She bent down and seemed to be everywhere, all around me, all the I felt and heard and saw.

"Remember, Edward. You killed her, you spilled her blood, you forced her into madness in the asylum. You, _you, __**you, YOU!**_" Her deranged laughter rang around me, and I crouched lower once more, curled into myself, and letting the bindings of my own demons take me.

Alice

Not only one, but _two_ of he links of the chain gone. Here our family was lain open at the seams. Completely bared, torn apart. It felt like we were torn, ripped, half of us taken and burned. Out of pure reminiscence did I search through the grains of futures for the two that I missed greatly – one as sweet as light as vanilla, always twisting in an endless dance with the other, the dark grain that seemed to shrink within itself. Both had disappeared, leaving the empty feeling of the lost, though not forgotten. . As much as I sifted through the endless sands of futures they would never come up again.

Carlisle had retreated into his study – wallowing away at the thought of loosing _two _of his children (as he thought Bella as much of his child as she was Charlie's) together to death. Even his ideals – his very beliefs were torn apart as he doubted the existence of an afterlife for us. The very fact that Edward had not only longed for death but thrown himself wholly into it shook him in every fiber of his being. After seeing the destruction of his family, our leader was broken.

At our leaving, the Volturi were in spirited moods. Their great rivals were crumbling, the largest clan seen breaking off into the dark. They had no need to worry about us now – they had nearly completely crushed us with the death of two souls. But I suppose there is naught left for us to do but sit back and watch the futures come pouring back in again – leaving behind the two souls that had bound us to ourselves, and each other.

Bella

I felt the impact around me, dust rising up from my hitting the hard ground. It had been so long since I had last felt physical pain – or even paid notice to it, for that matter. Death or life, these things had mattered little to me compared to my separation from him. Dust whirled in the air and I could not see worth a whit, blinded by torrents of whipping sand and dust.

As the debris settled, I looked outward to see ... nothing. Well, I suppose it was something, but nothing at the same time. Endless deserts and looping pathways, criss-crossing across the desert sands. I stood alone, small in the endless stretch of fire and sand. Flames bursting to the left and the right, licking up and down my bare arms. I looked down to see that my gown of purgatory had nearly disintegrated, the fire from above burning it away from a billowing cloak to a meager dress. My motionless wings felt searing at the tips, and I looked back to see them black with ash and glowing from the fire. They smoldered and glowed like coals, not built for the heat of hell.

With only one way to go, I walked forward along the pathway, it seeming like such an easy, if not long, way to hell. The ground shook once and I topped to my knees, the earth shaking back and forth. As I stared toward the ground a shadow approached, looming over me and shivering in the fluctuating light. I followed it to it's source and stared soundlessly at the monster before me. The head of a man and the body of a spider, it's heart was ripped out leaving a gaping hole from which blood oozed. Eyes of flint glinted in the wavering light, trained steadily on me. A malicious grin spread across its face, widening as it caught sight of my wings. It's legs drummed endlessly even when not moving and I turned to run.

In turning I found myself once again facing the monster. Had I turned all the way around? I was facing the same direction as I had started, once again facing the monstrous beast. I turned around once more only to find that the monster was still there, and that I had not moved an inch. With horror I turned around frantically, realizing what was happening.

A voice whispered in my ear – the voice of the demon, leering cruelly and without mercy. It slithered from the venomous mouth of the monster, winding its way through the thick air to my ears. "You can't run away little angel, you must _fight _to get him back. "

The beast took a swipe and me and I dashed backwards a few steps. If this is what it took to save him, then I would do it. Bracing myself for another attack, a ran forward towards the monster of my doom.

It is well that a soul is a hearty thing, even through what I myself have been through. Claws of silver ripped at me on the ends of reaching legs, all eight of them aimed solely at me. I could feel each blow shake me to my core, weakening me slowly. My limp wings, those that had awed souls and carried me this far were useless, not fazing the beast the slightest, and catching on the tips of its claws. I felt as if each it struck out at me I was useless, dragged down by the weight of weariness.

I myself struck out at my assailant, not that helped at all. I was not even half of its size, and it stood towering over me, claws striking all around me, as if it were a cage of living flesh. Not only was I without defense, I was without weapon. Still, this was the only way to _him_, to the one thing that would bring me to rest. How ironic. I was _fightin_gto go to hell, _fighting_ to find the one that killed me in cold blood. Ironic, ironic. Didn't you just love it?

And still I fought.

Edward

Damned visions of her continued to swim before me. They had changed – they began to speak, screaming at me, blaming me for her death. Some of them clawed at me, tore at me, reached out with curved claws to rend and tear at my eyes and face, and I would wake to realize that the nails that raked my skin were my own. The pressure that throbbed at my temple threatened to drown me, a driving spear that jabbed endlessly.

And this was the eternity that I was to endure? Torture was not the word for it – it was pure agony. It was endless – the she-demon barraged me now with not only images and voices but scents – the freshly spilled blood in these memories now wrenched and tore at my throat. I was endlessly thirsty – even worse knowing if was for _her. _I craved the blood that splashed in these visions while her screams echoed the cold walls sounding jagged and coarse while still the bitter remnant of what she was before I destroyed her.

The Victoria demon still laughed, but more quietly now, realizing that it was more torture to hear the visions than her. Her claws dug deep into my scalp, even the pain now helping to lesson the agony.

However, something had changed today. (Perhaps was it today? Or yesterday? Time seems to whirl here, nothing really was as it should be.) Victoria stood stock still, utterly silent, and though the torture lessened still lay a trepidation for what was to come. It didn't take long for the event to come, a storm of dust swirled lazily in the distance, briefly breaking the monotonous view that was my own personal hell. The closer it came the faster the wind whipped, and as it approached the haunting, horrid visions began to pound down upon me harder and faster until it was past the point it was before.

Dust flew at me, into my eyes and my mouth, filling them with sand and grit. A lone claw scraped down the back of my neck and I felt it curl around it briefly. Suddenly she was there, eyes wide and mouth gaping, screaming into my ears and clawing, scraping, tearing at the tender flesh that was my mind. Her nails tore at my eyes and grasped my hair – I felt myself bleeding with the blood I'd inherited at my death and the red swam into my eyes to cloud my vision. The screams pounded, jabbed, screeched and stabbed into me and I couldn't take it. I collapsed, shuddering and screaming myself, tearing at my own hair and pressing my face into the ground.

Suddenly, a pale finger reached out to tilt my contorted face to the sky. Still wracked in pain, my blurred vision saw a man dressed in black, hair swirling and dust obscuring my view of his face. It dissipated, and left a gaunt visage with a twisted smile, and eyes as red as Bella's blood.

"Hello Edward." It said, and it's smile grew broader to reveal a sharp set of teeth, bright white and glinting in the little light that was there. "You know, I've taken an interest in you." A fresh image launched itself at my mind and I cringed again – this time it was _her_ once more, only lain out onto the floor of her padded cell, torn throat bared and shining with blood. "You have much potential."

The pale hand lowered to brush the matted hair from my eyes and I blinked away the blood within them. It was colder than ice – it burned my skin and seemed to freeze to it, tearing it as it pulled away. Still my head swam with confusion and anger and pain, but the man was talking.

"Your rage, your anger, your pain and suffering. So potent – deliciously so." His hand reached further and snatched my throat. Seconds passed, and I was being held against a steel wall, anchored by my neck and crushed tightly with a force far too great for the pale, slight hand. My eyes swam again and my ears roared with both Bella's screams and a pounding that obliterated thought. I tried to focus, to breathe, but the hand was squeezing like a snake, seeming to curl around and around and pull tighter and tighter. But still, the man spoke.

"_-remains in the afterlife because of __**you**__._" His voice slithered into focus and was suddenly sharp. "Isn't it delightful? The pain, the suffering. You killed the one thing to live for." He laughed and it rung in my ears. "Such a young girl, so vibrant and full of life. What was her name?" He paused and pretended to think, placing one finger on a pale lip. "Oh yes, I do remember now.

_Isabella_." He grinned and licked his lips as he said the name, red eyes watching carefully as my inner self tore back and screamed in frustration and agony. I supposed that my eyes showed it all – after my agony and torture, I didn't think that I had much control over anything now, much less what I showed to those who were there to see it. He had turned around then, the force on my throat somehow still there while he roared with laughter at my agony. I waited, silent, as he quieted and wrung out the last of the entertainment from my pain.

He swung around suddenly and his expression was blank.

"Would you like to see Bella one more time?" My head swung up so quickly that it hurt.

"She's up there now, you know. She's never been to heaven. Only purgatory. She's been waiting for you ..." I was still silent, but this conversation had taken a turn and I had no idea where it was going.

"Would you? Would you like to tell her how much you love her?

How much you're sorry?

Protect her from everything? Have her beside you, for the rest of eternity?" He dropped me and I stared up at him.

"I can give you the power to take her back, Edward. You could have her to yourself, protect her from everything. We just have to make a little deal, Edward." He reached out a cold hand.

My head was swimming again. To have Bella back, whole, to myself. To protect her and tell her what had gone wrong, why this had happened. To simply _have _her. I looked up and nodded. He understood the acceptance in my eyes. I only had one question.

"Who are you?"

He smiled, those sharp teeth showing once again.

"I go by many names Edward, but you can call me Lucifer." he said, as I took his hand.


End file.
